Which is more powerful: silence or conversation? Why?
Last semester, before my M,W,F math class I would walk past three students who would be signing. Maybe it was a class, maybe they were deaf, but I found it to be very fascinating. Recently at work I've noticed a deaf girl as one of our frequent shoppers. I couldn't help but think what it would be like, to a) not have to deal with annoying noises and 2) long for the beauty of the earths natural noise in nature and a beautiful song.
These two influences have inspired me to ask the question. I'm somewhat of a cynical person, or maybe i've just become so aware of the world's bullshit that i've been driven to anger. Maybe not anger, let's say disappointment, we are capable of so much more. There is so much noise in the world it's hard to have a coherent thought, or just rest your brain. The last time i tried i had this inherent ringing in my ears, it didn't go away, I had to turn my radio on to drown it out. This is a self inflicted problem. We make so much noise that once we escape it, it still lingers.
I value silence so much, so much that I never am able to actually practice it (consciously at least). I think it could be nice to not have to deal with all the background noise that is extremely annoying. The beeping, the clicking, you know exactly what I mean, we all have a specific noise that get's under our skin. Serenity I believe is in silence. Im not saying I want to be deaf, the loss of hearing would be a monumental blow to my ability to function, for as much as I can complain about the noise we make, the natural noises of the world are so beautiful and brilliant, awe inspiring.
Noise can also help us, whenever I see a deaf/blind person walking the streets I worry and I worry hard. First I feel horrible that they've probably done nothing to deserve to be less capable then myself. I wish we had a way to have everyone be truly equal, no one deserves to be worse off than another, have it be deaf, blind, a victim of racial profiling or anything. I wish I had a switch, when im alone I would turn my ears on, listen to Sigur Ros, when im in nature hear the world for what it is intended, but when im at work, when im in the busy streets, I would turn it off and just go about my business without the consequence of the ringing once im home and have to deal with the aftershock.
Which is more powerful silence or conversation? I believe in silence we say exactly what we need through our body language, once we open our mouth we tend to say things without thinking, or say to much. I prefer silence. I know the beauty of the birds in nature, and I despise the clicking and beeping and ringing that is my job.
A healthy balance is whats needed, and I don't get enough of the silence to counteract the noise.
Posted by: |